AROUND THE WORLD

Government seeks carbon caps

March 14, 2007|By Items compiled from Tribune news services.

LONDON, BRITAIN — The British government proposed bold new environmental legislation Tuesday that would set legally binding, long-term limits on carbon emissions, a move it hopes will prompt the United States, China and India to follow suit.

The climate change bill would be the first legislation in an industrialized country to spell out such long-range goals, including a carbon budget set every five years that would cap CO2 levels and create an independent body to report on progress. The legislation also calls for binding targets as far ahead as 2050 for reducing carbon emissions.

"This is a revolutionary step in confronting the threat of climate change," Prime Minister Tony Blair said. "It sets an example to the rest of the world."

Britain's political parties have jostled in recent weeks for the "green" vote, seeking to display their environmental credentials in hopes of securing a key constituency in the next national election.